Doane Upsets Lions, One Win from Advancing

Doane put up a strong defensive showing on Wednesday afternoon in Sioux City and came away with an upset victory over No. 9 Lindenwood University, 3-0. Game scores were 25-20, 25-23, 25-17.

Lindenwood struck first in each game but the Tigers were able to battle back. Doane closed out the upset victory with an 8-0 run in game three after the match was tied at 17-17.

"Our consistency of play was key for us. Yesterday (against Bellevue) we let a few runs of points effect our play but today when Lindenwood would string together two or three points we did not allow it to go any further," Tiger Head Coach Cindy Meyer commented. "We were able to stay at a high level throughout the match today."

The Tigers were led by a strong defense that posted 11 team blocks. Chelsee Marvin finished with five total blocks in the match for Doane while Jessy Livers and Lisa Lord added three total blocks each.

"Our blocking really picked up today," Meyer said. "We changed their attack options from setting slides to setting back row attacks that they were not use to doing."

Emily Schwisow led the back row defense once again with 21 digs, a match high.

At the net, the Tigers were balanced for the second day in a row. Livers finished with 10 kills while Marvin added eight and Terra Andreasen posted seven kills.

"The setters did a good job of keeping the tempo up for us by setting the ball quickly to the attackers. Lindenwood was tall but because we were going quicker than they were, we were able to use their block against them and pick up points."

Livers was a factor in pushing the ball off of the Lions' block as several of her kills were off of their arms and out of bounds. Ashley Sluka finished 17 set assists while Heather Davison led the way with 18 set assists for Doane.

Up NextDoane will face Vanguard University in pool play on December 4 at 11:00 AM. The game can be heard on the Tiger Sports Network.

Coach Meyer said a similar effort will be needed against VU if the Tigers are to come away victorious.

"They are a very physical team. We will need to serve aggressively and try to keep them out of system. Our tempo and blocking will be essential but it will all start with serve and serve receive for us."